June 1, 2010 I published the last issue (at least for a while) of Girl Talk my teen girl magazine. Since this blog was originally designed for the purpose of publishing weekly devotions for the magazine and later the magazine itself I decided to create another blog that isn’t connected to Girl Talk.

I’ll probably still publish book reviews or other items here now and again but you’ll more often find me at Trusting Him with Today. I hope you’ll stop by



Oct 8, 2007

Waking Up To Perfection



I would love to wake up every morning to perfection. I would love to make the perfect cup of coffee every time, have the perfect hairstyle, not notice a stain on my clothes just as I was about to walk out of the door, encounter absolutely no traffic on my five-minute drive to work, meet twenty six eager learners who have absolutely no time to talk to their friends during work time. Oh, and while I’m dreaming, Please Lord, I would love to meet the perfect guy, have all of my bills paid forever, a new wardrobe, a new car….

"We are not built for the mountains and the dawns and aesthetic affinities, those are for moments of inspiration, that is all. We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle." ~ Oswald Chambers

Oswald Chambers puts it perfectly in the above quote. We would all love to have our lives run smoothly, exactly the way we want it to at all times. If we had our way we would never choose valleys we would always choose the mountain top. However we cannot stay on the mountains always. We will experience valleys in our lives.

There are days in my classroom when I’m on a mountain top. The students seem to grasp everything I teach right away. They are eager to learn, we’re moving faster than I expect and I feel like I’m the greatest teacher ever. (Can you sense the valley coming?) Unfortunately there are also days when I feel as if I’m speaking a foreign language. Hand after hand go up and I hear, “Miss McIntosh, I don’t get (understand) that.” On those days it appears that my students don’t understand the simplest concept and I’m wondering, “Is something wrong with me?” More than half of my students cannot have a problem so I must be the problem…

"We are not built for the mountains and the dawns and aesthetic affinities, those are for moments of inspiration…

I’ve learned on the days when I’m feeling like the worst teacher ever to reflect back to the days when it seems like everything went right for inspiration. Sometimes I take my students books and look back at work that they did well in to remind me that they can do well. It also forces me to come up with new strategies for teaching some of the concepts. So in actuality my valleys brings something out of me that I may not have tapped into had I stayed on the mountain top.

Instead of a scripture I’ll share this song that I love to remind you dear reader and myself the the God of the mountain is still God in the valley. I was reminded of it the moment I saw the quote that Laurel choose.

God On The Mountain

Life is easy when you're up on the mountain
And you've got peace of mind like you've never known.
But then things change and you're down in the valley.
Don't lose faith for you're never alone.
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make it right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.

You talk of faith when you're up on the mountain.
Oh but the talk comes easy when life's at its best.
But it's down in the valley of trials and temptation
That's when faith is really put to the test.
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make it right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.

For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong, He'll make it right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.
The God of the day is still God in the night.
Song by Lynda Randle



For more on this week's quote visit Laurel @ Laurel Wreath.

7 comments:

Denise said...

This was an awesome post dear one.

Anonymous said...

ohhhh, thanks for sharing so beautifully. That song corresponds so perfectly.

lori said...

Your post this morning truly blessed me...thank you for that!
The hymn is absolutely a perfect compliment to the quote...Coming down is what we have to do, its what we are called to do!
I enjoyed the visit this morning...fuel for my journey!
peace,
lori

Lori said...

Beautiful post. You know I have had another thought hit me when I was reading your post.

If we live a smooth life and things go well, we are very tempted to say "it was our doing" thankyouverymuch ;) But when we are struggling in the valley, and the we see something break through and when something awesome happens we KNOW IT IS OF GOD and not us!!

This does not directly relate to your post, but it hit me while reading it. Thank you so much for paticipating.

Heather said...

It IS hard to believe you are a good teacher on those days when everyone looks at you blankly but like Laurel said, God's at work in both the bad and the good days, isn't He? Praying for your ministry in the classroom...God bless you!

Anonymous said...

Super song. Thanks for posting it. I'm going to look for the music.

I'm in a dark valley right now. I could use your prayers. I am shameless asking everyone I know to lift me up-- I need help in this battle--I'm not doing so well on my own.

I need a mountain top!

eph2810 said...

Knowing you from your writing, I believe that you are a wonderful teacher :). It might a subject-matter that is harder for the kids to learn.

But you always have Him with you when days don't go well.

I don't believe that I have ever heard the song you are referring to. The words are beautiful.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this week's IOW quote.

Be blessed today and always.

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